When a vehicle accident occurs, it is usually necessary to replace various parts of the vehicle. These parts of the vehicle are body parts, frame parts, mechanical parts, or electrical parts. With the body part, one major problem involves appropriate storage of body parts, until the particular use is desired.
Because vehicle body parts are generally large and require a substantial amount of storage space, it is usually desirable to warehouse the body parts, and ship the body parts to the desired location. The desired location is usually a body shop that actually makes the vehicle repairs.
Since warehouse space can be expensive, it is desired to reduce the number of warehouses and provide a shipping program to efficiently transport the desired part to the desired location. With such transportation, an effective package for the part permits shipping of the part with no damage. Because not all body parts are heavily supported or braced, it is difficult to ship parts.
Major keys to efficient use of warehouse space are proper storage and utility of the packaging materials. Not only must the packaging material be easily stored, it must also be easily assembled into the desired package. Such a combination provides value and efficiency to the packaging material.
One of the most difficult parts to ship is a vehicle hood or cover for the engine compartment. Some aftermarket suppliers have stopped shipping vehicle hoods because of the difficulty and expense of getting the hoods, to a desired location in an undamaged condition.
More particularly, it is known that is very difficult to ship a hood for a Mercedes. In spite of substantial efforts to correct the package and greatly reduce the damage to any part contained in the package, the efforts have met with no success. In fact, more than twenty-five (25%) percent of these shipped hoods are known to arrive in a damaged condition.
This damage problem imposes many undesirable limits. One such limit is the distance a hood may be shipped. To solve that problem, more warehouses for parts or better shipping packages are required. Such difficulties also lead a lack of flexibility in type or size of a hood that can be packed and shipped. Furthermore, it is difficult to develop a package acceptable to the commercial delivery services. If the package containing the auto parts or the hood or other body part can meet the standards of a commercial shipping organization, such as Federal Express or United Parcel Service, great advantages can be obtained. Such advantages include, but are not limited to, damage insurance on the part being shipped.